West End Avenue Residence

Completed:

2012

Team:

Victoria A. RospondMichael BaskettAlana AndersonEveline Petcu

Location:

New York, NY

Located on the ninth floor of a landmarked residential tower on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, this project combined two apartments into a single unit designed to serve as both a private residence and a public gathering space for various philanthropic events. The client, an avid collector, required large public spaces for various gatherings and screenings while also maintaining immense amounts of storage for her growing needs.

To respond to these requirements, all existing interior walls were stripped away during demolition, leaving an open and airy 2,500 square foot space, divided lengthwise by four original 1920s-era steel columns. A full-height storage core was inserted between these columns. The L-shaped core serves as both a spatial divider that delineates rooms, as well as an active element within each by providing display cabinets in living spaces, integrated appliances and work surfaces in the kitchen, equipment storage in the office and exercise area, and concealed pocket doors for privacy as needed.

A flooring material was repurposed as distinctive cladding for the storage core itself. Originally divided by walls, the existing oak floors were joined together and refinished with a dark aniline dye, providing a subtle historical record of the original room layouts and their varied board patterns. All other walls, cabinets and perimeter surfaces in the surrounding rooms are white, constructed from flush Venetian plaster, high-gloss lacquer, back-painted glass and Corian.